Building an outdoor wood oven: seeking info on pre-made domes?

Hi - First post to the site and hoping this is in the correct location. I have plans to build an outdoor, wood-fired oven that I plan to build starting this spring. While I feel comfortable building the base, I'm not a mason and feel that building the dome is something best left for the "pros". That said, I'm looking for companies that make/sell pre-cast domes that I can set on the oven's base, that I can build a facade around. I searched this site and also Google but have not had any luck.

THoughts? any help/direction would be appreciated!

Cheers,

Roger in Colorado

I like this company, though it's not anywhere near you. However, they are pretty big into the masonry heater/brick oven industry, and might know some people near you. Plus, I really like reading about their masonry heater installs!

http://mainewoodheat.com/WP/?p=293

http://mainewoodheat.com/WP/


This might do better in the hearth room, where it will get a lot more views than the wood room, but I'll leave that up to a mod.

I don't know about pre-made, but making the dome is pretty straightforward.

Check this page: http://heatkit.com/html/bakeoven.htm

There may be a link to a supplier of premade there, but really it's not so hard. You can buy premade material, or make it yourself. One method involves merely making a dome of wetted sand, smooting it out, cover with plastic, then add the castable material. When hardened, shovel out the sand and slowly fire it to cure.

edit: the material commonly used for these ovens (aside from brick) is called "cob".

http://www.fornobravo.com/

premade

I've never built an oven, although looking at the other links now I'm going to have to..., but in the past doing anything of that nature 2" rigid insulation is the primary choice. Buy a few sheets, layout as many sections as needed cutting each on in sequentially decending radius and then glue them all together. Finish them off with a surform tool to get your final shape.

Also, not too long ago on the NJ Craigslist someone had a styrofoam half sphere they were selling or giving away, they used the other half to make a brick oven. Lookup www.outwaterplastics.com you can probably buy one there.

I'm planning on this project for the back yard this coming spring. I plan on using 3' or 4' round well tiles stacked up, carve out a hole in one side, and cap it. I don't know if I'm going to attempt the dome. I've been to that forno/bravo site and also on www.instructables.com and it seems pretty easy. Make a mound of sand on a flat platform and form the dome over it. When the cement and filler mix is dry, remove the sand and hope for the best (!). That said, I don't know if I'm going to attempt the dome. Good Luck!